Old Time Dance Conference Collection, 1930-1990 | Archives of Appalachia

The idea for a conference on traditional dance stemmed from a 1988 paper on old-time square dancing in Tennessee given by Susan Spalding, Temple University, at the Congress for Dance Research. Members of the dance congress realized there was a void in research on traditional dance and voiced interest in hearing more about traditional dance. Spalding then approached Richard Blaustein, director, Center for Appalachian Studies and Services (CASS), East Tennessee State University (ETSU), about sponsoring a 1989 conference on traditional dance. CASS agreed to do this. The conference, called the Old Time Dance Conference, was held at ETSU in Johnson City, Tennessee and consisted of presentation of research papers and performance of dances. The Tennessee Humanities Council and the Tennessee Arts Commission provided funding for the dance performance segment.

In 1990 the conference again was held at ETSU, but this time it was called Southern Dance Traditions. Once again the conference consisted of scholarly (paper presentations) and public (dance performances) programs. The Tennessee Arts Commission and the Tennessee Humanities Council again provided some funds for the public program. For both the 1989 and 1990 conferences Spalding and Jane H. Woodside, Assistant Director, CASS, directed the conference, with the help of Blaustein.

Arrangement: The collection is divided into two series: Series 1, 1989 Program; and Series 2, 1990 Program.

Acquired:
Subsequent additions have been made on July 10, 1989 and September 19, 1990.

Rights: Recordings may be duplicated for personal, educational or scholarly use. But no portion of these recordings may be published without the written permission of the director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services. In addition, Tapes 1-6 may not be used commercially without first obtaining permission from the individual donors.

Acquisition Note:
The Old Time Dance Conference Collection was donated to the Archives of Appalachia by Richard Blaustein, director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services on June 23, 1989.

Scope and Contents: The Old Time Dance Conference Collection consists of audio and video tapes of the 1989 and 1990 dance programs, together with additional tapes on different styles of dance. The last-mentioned tapes cover dances and dance festivals which were not part of the Old Time Dance Conference program but which were donated by participants on the 1989 program. Also included in the collection are two file folders which contain descriptive notes on the tapes.